BACKGROUNDThe Jail was built in 1885 and was in
continuous use until 1969. It was acquired by the Council Bluffs
Park Board in 1971 for preservation, and was named to the National Register of
Historic Places in 1972 by the United States Government. The Historical
Society led an effort in 1977 to save the jail, and today owns and operates the
facility.

The design and size
of the Historic Pottawattamie County Squirrel Cage Jail make it a one-of-a-kind
structure.It was one of 18 revolving (“squirrel cage”,
"human rotary", or "lazy Susan") jails built. It is the only
three-story one ever built.

Built at a cost of about $30,000, our unique jail has three floors of
revolving pie-shaped cells inside a cage. The front part of the building
had offices for the jailer, kitchen, trustee cells, and quarters for women.

The design was the invention of William H. Brown and Benjamin F. Haugh, both
of Indianapolis, Indiana. A patent issued to them on July 12, 1881,
declared, "The object of our invention is to produce a jail in which
prisoners can be controlled without the necessity of personal contact between
them and the jailer." It was to provide "maximum security with
minimum jailer attention." As one deputy put it, "If a jailer
could count ... and he had a trusty he could trust ... he could control the
jail".

The cell section remains much as it did in 1969 when it was closed by the
county. The signatures and dates of many of its' infamous prisoners remain
scratched in the cell walls. It remains a well restored snapshot of an
interesting era of our society.

Today,
only 3 revolving jails remain:a
one-story structure in Gallatin, Missouri; a two-story jail in Crawfordsville,
Indiana; and the unique three-story jail here.All three are preserved as museums.

The Squirrel Cage Jail provides students and adults the opportunity to
experience first-hand a unique piece of cultural and architectural history and
to gain an understanding of this building’s unique place in cultural and
national history.Its one-of-a-kind
structure is unlikely to be duplicated again.

The Historical Society of
Pottawattamie County, Iowa was founded
in 1934 and is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to kindling and
keeping alive an active interest in state and local history. Contributions
and inquiries should be directed to the Society at P.O. Box 2, Council
Bluffs, Iowa 51502-0002. For additional information, phone 712-323-2509 or
e-mail us here.

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